Bartlett and Germantown sit in one of the busier paths for spring thunderstorm systems in the Mid-South. Straight-line winds of 60 to 70 mph aren't unusual during a typical April storm. Gusts in tornadic systems can exceed 90 mph.

Memphis gets hail. Not every year, not every storm, but often enough that every homeowner in the Mid-South should know how to recognize hail damage on a roof. The tricky part: hail damage often doesn't look like much from the ground. The shingles look fine. The house looks fine.

A spring storm comes through Memphis. A tree limb hits the roof, or hail dents your gutters, or wind lifts shingles off three slopes. You're going to file an insurance claim. Now what?

A new roof is a significant expense. Most Memphis-area asphalt shingle replacements run $14,000 to $25,000, with premium materials or larger homes pushing higher. For most homeowners, that's not money sitting in checking.

You're standing in the front yard looking up at the roof. Maybe there are a few curling shingles, maybe a leak showed up after the last storm, maybe a contractor knocked on your door and told you the whole thing needs to come off.

Most Memphis homeowners assume that the word warranty on a roofing contract means they're covered if something goes wrong.

If you've been getting roofing quotes in Memphis, you've probably seen the phrase Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor on at least one marketing flyer, truck wrap, or website. It sounds like a sales tagline. It isn't.

Drive through any neighborhood in Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, or Bartlett, and you'll see the same thing on most of the houses: asphalt shingles.

You walk out into the yard after a Memphis thunderstorm and there it is, a shingle lying flat in the grass. You look up at the roof and see a bare patch where it used to be. Maybe it's just one shingle. Maybe two or three.

Memphis and the surrounding Mid-South get hit hard by severe weather. Spring brings tornadic systems through Shelby County, summer delivers fast-moving thunderstorms with damaging straight-line winds, and the occasional hail event in winter can dent and crack shingles overnight.